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Santa Paula PhotoVoice Project

Kennedy Library invites you to view Cal Poly STRIDE’s photography exhibit, “Creating a Vision, Empowering a Community: The Santa Paula PhotoVoice Project” that is on display October 15 – November 5, 2012, in the Cafe Gallery on the second floor.

Here’s the story behind the photos: In 2011, the City of Santa Paula engaged Cal Poly City and Regional Planning students to update the city’s Downtown Improvement Plan by working with the community to inform the vision for downtown.

Cal Poly students’ outreach efforts included a PhotoVoice project sponsored by STRIDE, an interdisciplinary research center at Cal Poly that promotes healthier living. PhotoVoice is an activity designed to empower people to tell their stories through photos and narratives.

Led by Nicola Lamb, a Santa Paula high School teacher, 42 students in her senior level English classes shared stories about what they liked and what they wanted to change in Santa Paula.

Image to image, the students highlight issues with their city’s infrastructure, like a lack of public restrooms in parks, graffiti and potholes.

“Maybe what we should do is, band together as a city, and do what the sign states, and help stop the graffiti,” Elmer writes in “Two Points of View” about the stop sign image at the top of this post.

“The town should reflect its own true beauty with its people, attractive architecture, and gorgeous landscape that are depicted throughout our murals around Santa Paula,” Yesenia and Maria write in “The Ugly Truth.” (Their photo is above.)

STRIDE’s Photovoice Project will be on display October 15 – November 5, 2012, at Kennedy Library, 2nd Floor, Cafe Gallery.